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Haley vetoes cut state spending by $213 M
Targets K-12, arts, GOP primary
S.C. State House
Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed $213 million in state spending Tuesday, including $76 million for K-12 education and $12.4 million to buy new school buses.
Among the governor's other vetoes were:
• The entire $2.1 million budget for the state Arts Commission budget • Using state money to pay for the 2012 Republican presidential primary • The state's entire $107 million capital reserve fund, which includes money for economic development, tourism and millions for building maintenance, particularly on state college campuses.
Haley said her goal was to limit growth in state spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth, a difference of $75.6 million from the Legislature's proposed $6 billion budget.
Haley issued 36 vetoes, a far cry from predecessor Mark Sanford who often issued more than 100 vetoes. Haley, a former S.C. House member, said lawmakers had listened to those criticisms.
"They have changed over time. They have gotten more responsible with their spending ... that is true progress," Haley said. "There is not pork that we're dealing with anymore. Now, it is priorities in how we spend our money."
Haley's budget vetoes set out a number of policies: • Better-than-expected revenues should go to tax relief, rebates or to pay off state debt • Piecemeal adjustments to state education formulas are no longer acceptable • Lawmakers should not use the state budget to restructure state government.
Many of the vetoes were not a surprise.
Haley repeatedly has opposed including the Arts Commission, S.C. ETV and the presidential primary in the state budget, for example. Haley said she vetoed the bus money because the state will seek bids to privatize its school bus service.
Haley said she vetoed other items -- including $1.7 million for the University Center in Greenville and $1.4 million to help students transition from high school to college -- because the state already funds other, similar programs.
The S.C. House will meet tomorrow and take up the 36 budget vetoes. To overturn the veto requires a two-thirds majority of those voting.
Any veto overturned by the House then would head to the state Senate, where it also would require a two-thirds majority to overturn Haley's veto.
Video of Governor Haley's veto media briefing (provided by the governor's office)